Mayor-elect Duggan names Hollowell, 2 others to Cabinet

Detroit Mayor-elect Mike Duggan has named three new members of his Cabinet and the top fire department official.

Melvin "Butch" Hollowell, 54, has been nominated to be the city's next corporation counsel, replacing Portia Roberson, 44, who has been nominated to lead the city's new Civil Rights and Justice Division. Chuck Raimi, 62, has also been nominated as deputy corporation counsel.

Hollowell was counsel for Duggan's mayoral campaign. He was most recently general counsel for the Detroit branch of the NAACP. His appointment will need the approval of the Detroit City Council because he would be filling a department head position.

"I was looking for a leader of the Law Department who would be much more aggressive in defending the city against the hundreds of lawsuits we face each year," Duggan said in a news release.

Detroit pays about $19 million annually in liability payments, according to the release.

Roberson, who was appointed corporation counsel in June after former corporation counsel Krystal Crittendon was removed from office, was a former official in U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's office and an assistant Wayne County prosecutor.

She is the daughter of former Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Dalton Roberson.

Duggan called her "the ideal candidate to establish an integrity program and enforce non-discrimination laws in the workplace" as head of the Civil Rights and Ethics Division.

Raimi was deputy general counsel for the Detroit Medical Center during Duggan's tenure as its president and CEO.

In addition, Duggan has nominated Second Deputy Fire Commissioner Jonathan Jackson, 44, as interim fire commissioner. Jackson's appointment would have to be approved by the Detroit City Council under the rules of the Detroit City Charter.

According to the release, Duggan will spend six months conducting a national search for the city's permanent fire commissioner.

"I hope Commissioner Jackson will be a candidate for the permanent job," Duggan said in the release.

Salaries and benefits have not yet been determined, said Duggan's communication director John Roach.

On Thursday, Duggan and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr announced that they had reached an agreement on the delegation of their powers. Shortly after that announcement, Duggan announced the following appointments:

Former state representative and mayoral candidate Lisa Howze as Duggan's chief of staff.

F. Thomas Lewand, former Michigan Democratic Party chairman and partner of Detroit law firm Bodman LLP, as group executive for jobs and economic growth. He is the father of Detroit Lions President Tom Lewand.

A message left with John Roach, communications director for Duggan's transition team, was not returned prior to this posting.